DECEMBER 2 — 1886 Happy Anniversary Theodore and EdithRoosevelt; 8 ELECTIONS: Democrats Win First Presidential Election; 1952 Pez Candy Gets Patent
DECEMBER 2
1886 – Happy anniversary Theodore and Edith Roosevelt.
Edith, who was actually Teddy’s second wife, knew him pretty much her whole life as she was best friends with his little sister Connie, as well as the fact that their fathers worked closely together in the shipping business.
Teddy and Edith actually dated briefly as teenagers but he went to Harvard and he started dating someone else whom he would wind up marrying. Her name Alice Hathaway, but she tragically died while giving birth to their first child.
That child, Alice junior, would grove up to become a famous writer who had a very rocky marriage to future Speaker of the House and Republican Ohio Senator Nicholas Longworth III, but the only child she would have would be a girl named Paulina who was conceived from an affair Alice Junior had with Idaho Senator William Edgar Boran. But getting back to Edith.
Edith, who was actually at the wedding between Teddy and Alice Seniorseemed to have a good attitude towards the couple. But after Alice died, it would still obviously take some time for Teddy to recover, and he did so giving his baby to his sister so he could do what Teddy did best, hunt, fish and live in the wilderness.
He and Edith rekindled their relationship after a couple years and tied the knot on this day in 1886. Edith raised little Alice junior as well as the other kids she had with Teddy, starting with Theodore Junior, Theodore Junior would probably be best known for directing troops during WWII at Utah Beach during the Normandy invasion where he was given a Medal of Honor posthumously. Kermit Roosevelt, not to be confused with the grandson of FDR who wrote Operation Ajax, or the CIA attempted coup d’état in Iran, this Kermit Roosevelt was a hunter and explorer like his father and severed in both world wars. Next in 1891 Ethel junior was born, a.k.a. the Queen of Oyster Bay by her Long Island fellow residents. And she would be instrumental in preserving her parents home Sagamore Hill fifth child Archibald was born in 1894, was served and wounded in both world wars, and later became the successful cofounder of a New York City bond brokerage house as well as a conservative speaker. Finally the last Roosevelt child would be Quentin, who was a bold and daring pilot during World War 1. Quentin, who died in aerial combat over France on Bastille Day in 1918, and remains the only child of a U.S. President to die in combat.
Teddy and Edith both loved to read; legend has it they both read one book everyday. His interests leaned towards science and tech, whereas she was more artistic, which Teddy called a taste superior to his own. Teddy was a man of many talents; he was a ranch owner, amateur collector of insects and plants, and a skilled writer.
He also became a national hero during the Spanish-American War under the command of William McKinley when he charged his Rough and Ready regiment up San Juan Hill. Telescope Teddy, the Happy Warrior also showed gallantry as he charged up his own career ladder, going from New York governor to vice-president under McKinley to president, all within three years. Obviously McKinley’s assassination helped move him up to presidency but that’s an entirely different story. And when that happened,
Edith went to work right away on the White House. Remember, the Roosevelt’s were a big family, and now the kids were growing up and having families of their own, so the White House would need to be expanded. First of all, the downstairs was used only with presidential ceremonies and other business, upstairs was for the first lady and the family. TR and Edith did a little demolition and expansion and created what we now we call the West Wing, and that’s where all the presidential stuff would take place. The east wing, which looked like a hotel lobby, was repainted with the white and gold trim, and more portraits of George Washington were placed there in pretty much the same configuration as it is today. Edith also ordered the presidential letterhead read the words, The White House for the first time.
The parties at the White House were plentiful, but not expensive since the president was using his own salary to fund it. Edith was quiet, and had an easy temper, but had a reputation for being frosty which often made people nervous.
After the White House, Edith would travel extensively all around the world. She wrote a book called Cleared for Strange Ports if you want more info on her life and family, and later on had to explain to America that the Democrat running for president, Franklin Roosevelt, was not her son. Edit passed away September 30, 1948. Despite her often cold nature, Edit Roosevelt is considered one of the most elegant first ladies, second only to perhaps Jacqueline Kennedy.
Happy anniversary Teddy and Edith!
1828 – The Democrats win their first election.
Old Hickory Andrew Jackson squared off in a vicious rematch from 1824 against current president Publicola John Quincy Adams.
Insults on both sides were high. Biased newspapers were furiously publishing on both political sides. The southern Democrats didn’t trust JQA’s stealing the election from Jackson in ’24, and supporters of Adams didn’t trust Jackson and labelled him a murderer. In the election of 1824, Jackson won both the popular vote as well as the electoral, but since nobody won a majority the election went to the House of Representatives, who chose Adams. It was widely believed that House Speaker Henry Clay influence the election, and when Adams won the presidency, Clay was chosen as Secretary of State in what became known as the Corrupt Bargain which I talked about yesterday. As president, Jackson would come up with the Spoils System, which was basically the same thing.
But for now, Jackson was furious, but before he returned to Tennessee he was already getting the support he needed to revisit the next election. The Democratic-Republican party began to split after the election of 1824, with Jacksonian factions in the south supporting agriculture and a leader for the common man, and the National Republicans in the north supporting modern industrialization. The Whig party supported a strong federal system through the powers of congress as well as economic protectionism, namely a central bank. Jacksonians distrusted a national bank, and the stage was being set for the upcoming bank wars. Industrialization would be needed to provide internal roadways and canals, as well as a decent public school system. Supporters of JQA personally attacked Jackson during the campaign, calling him a war criminal and executioner for allegedly killing 6 unarmed British soldiers in cold blood who had surrendered during the War of 1812.
The Coffin Pamphlets was a propaganda newspaper piece published to describe the six soldiers and featured a poem calling him out. Old Hickory was also called an adulterer, and those were fighting words. That insult was so disrespectful Jackson once got in a duel over it. Now during the campaign, Rachel began to have chest pains, possibly because of that insult. Folks from the Whig party also supported freeing black slaves and giving them the right to vote, which was just ridiculous back then, and would be until the Civil Rights movements in the 1960s. At one point, Adams supporters even called Jackson’s mother a prostitute.
But these insults wouldn’t affect the outcome in Adams favor in fact Jackson had support in northern states such as Pennsylvania, and a very devoted friend who just happened to be the senator of New York named Martin Van Buren. Finally the ugliness came to a stop on this day in 1828 as Old Hickory easily defeated JQA in the first victory for the new Democratic party, as a man for the common folks became leader of the country, But the victory tookits toll on Rachel, who would die before her husband’s inauguration.
Nonetheless, the victory for Jackson was so huge the party turned so crazy that the White House into Animal House. Jacksonian Democrats would dominate over the Whigs until 1840, with Jackson winning in 1832 and his very devoted friend Van Buren in 1836.
1823 — The Monroe Doctrine is declared.
Mainly the brainchild of John Quincy Adams, the intention behind this was to send a message to Europe that America will not tolerate interference from the countries in the American hemisphere and that America would remain neutral in European wars. Other countries were understandably interested having some influence on American interests. Russia had already tried to expand in the Alaska territory, and in Central and South America the US government anticipated a Spanish attempt at colonial re-emergence, and the British wanted a role in American politics and economics. On December 12, 1823, President James Monroe proclaimed the initiative at his state of the union address. However it wouldn’t actually be needed until 1904 when European creditors were fixing to collect debts from Latin American countries, and threatened military force to get it if necessary.
President Teddy Roosevelt answered Europe by supplying military aid to Santo Domingo in 1904, Nicaragua in 1911, and Haiti in 1915, however didn’t necessarily want American military support and made that very clear, calling America the great colossus of the north. The other point of the Monroe Doctrine was to keep America neutral in European affairs, but after two world wars it was obvious that the United States was a major global power.
1970 — In 1970, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was established during the administration of President Nixon. Working with strong bipartisan support from Congress, earlier in the year, on 2 Jan 1970, he had been able to sign the National Environmental Policy Act, and significant environmental action was set in motion. Once the EPA was created, the federal government could set the lead to constrain the excessive pollution caused by industries unwilling to clean up their wastes and emissions.
Too bad it’s riddled with scandals. One would be the fake employee Richard Windsor email address that former EPA head Lisa P Jackson used. Or the one about how conservatives have to pay a fortune for FOIAs, Freedom of Information Act to be granted while waiving fees for left wing groups such as the Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, and others. Or how the EPA leaked confidential information on farmers and cattle facilities to environmental groups. More regulation is a good thing? Who’s watching the watcher, folks.
1777 – Lydia Darragh overhears plans on a surprise attack on General Washington.
1952 – Pez Candy gets a US patent.
About time!
I believe the candy started in Austria, the name Pez supposedly came from preferment; the German word for peppermint, actually designed for adult smokers who were trying to quit. In 1935 in Czechoslovakia inventor Oscar Uxa developed a metal tin that dispensed the candy. In the early 50’s, Pez operations moved to New York City, and got the patent on this day in 1952.
In 1957, a 3D style head was placed on top of the dispenser; the first one being a Halloween witch, and the second, Popeye the Sailor Man. These days of course, every head imaginable from Mickey Mouse to Han Solo to Bugs Bunny to Super Mario to the New York Yankees, are on there! Just lift the head and out pops another yummy candy faster than babies popping out of Denise Richards. Chances are you’ve had at least one dispenser in your lifetime. Nowadays, you can check out the Burlingame Pez Museum, just 10 minutes from the San Francisco Airport. Gary and Nancy Doss had been collecting Pez dispensers since the mid-1980s, and in 1995, opened up the museum. They claim to have every unique Pez dispenser ever.
So for extra credit class, head to the Pez Museum in San Francisco and actually count to double check all 1,000 unique dispensers are still there.